shhhh…

31 October 2008

HIIIIIIIII INTERNET.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year which makes me run far, far away from the computer. The lighter evenings, probably. Whatever it is, I just don’t write much of anything anymore. It’s a loss, clearly.

Things I have done:

I went back to NZ last week for my nana’s funeral. Not the most fun trip home. I spoke as well, which… gah. Don’t do that. On the plus side, she was 92, sharp as a tack, and died peacefully. The alternative was the cancer which was diagnosed about 6 months ago and which had recently spread to her lungs, and apparently lung cancer is a nasty and painful way to die. For something that can never have good timing, she had good timing.

I tried to convince my kittens that the washing left to dry on the airing rack is not a gymnasium. Every day I come home to a pile of wet shirts pulled onto the floor and two innocent looking faces. Look, I know it’s not the dog. He stopped pulling washing off the line about six years ago. Also he is lazy. BUSTED.

I sprayed that spray bandage stuff onto a massive scratch on my leg caused by a falling kitten. Have you used that? Stings like a motherfucker. The kittens both have claws, but Colonel Mustard still has those needle-sharp baby claws, while Earl Grey seems to have thicker adult-like claws (and never uses them). Guess which one fell off the cat tree and onto me taking photos below it? Yeah.

Oh I bought a cat tree. Crazy cat person in 3… 2… wait let me go buy some cat toys from Ikea… 1. Having said that, at least they USE the cat tree, which was my biggest concern. And it is covered with plain beige carpet, not paw print or leopard skin fabric, which was my second biggest concern. Which is funny really, considering the house in fact looks like several bombs have gone off inside it (not helped by the wet washing all over the floor). But by god at least my cat tree blends in.

I read the Twilight series, all four books, in four nights. For those who don’t know, this series is aimed at teenagers and has a massive, probably rabid, fan following and the movie of the first book is out in a month. I did not know these things, so I read them without any hype, which was undoubtedly beneficial since it is, after all, Young Adult Romantic Vampire Fiction. My favourite was Book 3, I think, but because I read them in one long ribbon it might have been the latter part of Book 2. Book 4 is awful and then GOT WORSE. Stop at Book 3 if you can make yourself. I felt faintly nauseated after reading all four books at once, but I did feel compelled to. Make of that what you will. Executive Summary: he is beautiful and cold and intense; she is determined, in a limpet kind of way, astonishingly non-self-aware and frustrated the hell of me, to be honest. But again: compulsively read all four. Tell me if you’ve read them. We can bond. Like survivors.

I started using my Kitchen Aid which I bought in the US and made Mr. T lug halfway around the world. Due to a long and boring story, I didn’t need to buy a step-down power converter to get it to work, as Mr. T installed the Australian motor instead. I am using it far more often than I thought I would. It mixes a mean banananana cake, and last night I made afghans. The biscuit, not the rug. (Speaking of afghans, I have two massive crochet-square blankets that my nana made, and although I love them because she made them, it does make me smile to know they are the height of crafty fashion at the moment.)

I have Proof of the kittens. They are almost six months old now though, and are probably better called gangly adolescents.

2 comments to shhhh…

I’ve read the Twilight series in a rush too, and you really have to read the last one to find out what happens, but you’re right, not as good. I couldn’t get past the terrible bogan name she gave the vamp-kid.